I just had my stack snaked, oh the joys of homeownership. I had the shower drain fixed, so it doesn't leak into the kitchen, but the rest of the drains backed up and my one and only toilet quit flushing. It was an impressive mess. Your advice is actually useful, especially as the sewer cleaners assure me it can happen again, as there is "something weird" in the drain.
My sister's rottweiller died from drinking Chicago river water. This was the same dog that survived eating the neck off of a glass salad dressing bottle. I didn't mourn the beast. He took chunks out of people. But my sister adored him. (He only bit men. As she's gay, this wasn't as much of a problem as it might have been, though the dog did bite a lawyer once.)